9th International Classical Music Festival of Cyclades

For the 9th consecutive year the International Classical Music Festival of Cyclades will take place on the majestic island of Syros. This year’s festival will last from August 16 to August 24, 2013.

On the occasion of the 200 years from the birth of Verdi, the festival honours the great composer with a three-day tribute which culminates in the last two days (23rd and 24th of August) with the performance of Rigoletto, the work that was presented at the inauguration of the Apollo theatre of Syros, in 1864. This time, the work will be performed through an innovative concept and orchestration by Theodore Lebesis. The twenty-member string orchestra Musica Vitae from Sweden, will jointly perform with the woodwind quintet of the Izmir Camerata and leading Greek soloists, collaborators of the Greek National Opera such as the soprano Vassiliki Karayanni, the mezzo-soprano Irini Karayanni, the tenor Dimitris Paksoglou and the baritone Haris Andrianos.

This year’s programme also includes masterpieces of the world repertoire and works by the ‘rebel’ of tango Astor Piazzolla, as well.

As every year, this year’s festival features distinguished soloists such as the internationally acclaimed Greek pianist and artistic director of the Nafplion festival Janis Vakarelis, the festival’s usual partner and concertmaster of the Royal Danish Orchestra Lars Bjornkjaer, the pianist and artistic director of the festival Around the Piano Alexandra Nomidou, the pianist, composer and improviser Yiorgos Psihoyios, the guitarist Costas Cotsiolis, laureate of the Academy of Athens and artistic director of the guitar festivals in Naxos and in Belgrade, the violinist Yannos Margaziotis, concertmaster of the National Greek Opera and Artistic Director of the International Classical Music Festival of Cyclades, and many other soloists from Belgium, Brazil, USA and Greece.

The festival is under the auspices of the Municipality of Syros – Hermoupolis and the Syros Organisation for Culture and Sports and is realised with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Athens.

Syros, the diamond of the Aegean, is waiting to take you to a fascinating trip into the world of classical music.